[Mick]

I have no dog in this fight, but my $.02.

First, whoever runs the board gets to decide what content it has and how the forums are configured on it.  I'm thankful to those who have provided it in any form the Cardboard exists, and would never tell them how to run it.

As for political discussion, I THINK what thatboy is angling at is that though "there are plenty of other places to discuss politics on the internet" is a true statement, there's a big difference between them existing and them existing with moderators or that include an audience that is capable of having smart, respectful debates. 

It seems the reality is there are few places people with different perspectives actually do co-mingle and have respectful discussions. The Bootleg used to have the "Thunderdome" board, which would not qualify as respectful discussion. I only saw it a few times because it was low brow, offensive, and not appealing to me in the least. That's not the culture of the Cardboard, nor will it ever be.

There have been some heated debates on this board over the last few months that have delved into politics and difficult to discuss issues, some made by me. I have been impressed by how genuinely civil the discussions have been, given the sometimes passionate nature of the arguments made. The hardest thing to do when engaging with someone with whom you disagree is to not get personal when debating a topic. The denizens of this board have done a very impressive job presenting their perspectives, even when inflammatory, without making personal attacks on others. In my experience this is rare. So I can see why one might appreciate that this board has shown the ability to have sometimes emotional debates on sensitive and controversial topics, and want to be able to have more of those discussions on the Cardboard because its community has demonstrated the ability to have them, unlike all those other places on the internet that can't.

I don't like the idea of a Politics board, because that's not what this forum is about in terms of mission. But I do not have a problem with political discussion entering into approved discussion topics, because sometimes it's virtually impossible to have those discussions without politics or personal values intermixing in the discourse. That said, I think one thing that keeps the board discussion civil and not going overboard on political discussion is "the Terry Rule."  But it's kind of like the speed limit.  Sure, you aren't allowed over 55 or 65, but who doesn't drive faster than that on the freeway?  Of course, most of us don't drive 75-80+ either, just like most of us know not to go too far on political discussion on this board.

In the end, all behavior boils down to show you can be trusted to handle your business without going off the rails, hurting others, and/or causing destructive division, and you don't need to be regulated. Demonstrate you can't be trusted to behave responsibly, and face regulation.

I think Stanford fans, politics and the Cardboard meshes just about as well as whiskey, car keys and 16 year old boys.  This is the only forum (frankly the only time in my life) I've been on where I've been called a racist.  The so-called Terry rule is chiefly to silence conservatives and I've been called out multiple times for not denouncing Trump quickly enough or often enough. The fact that some of you either don't understand that or don't care tells me all I need to know about this place, vis-a-vis politics.  So as a moderate-left registered independent, I love political discussions with people from all angles, but I think I'll pass on political discussions here.

[Mick]

I have no dog in this fight, but my $.02.

First, whoever runs the board gets to decide what content it has and how the forums are configured on it.  I'm thankful to those who have provided it in any form the Cardboard exists, and would never tell them how to run it.

As for political discussion, I THINK what thatboy is angling at is that though "there are plenty of other places to discuss politics on the internet" is a true statement, there's a big difference between them existing and them existing with moderators or that include an audience that is capable of having smart, respectful debates. 

It seems the reality is there are few places people with different perspectives actually do co-mingle and have respectful discussions. The Bootleg used to have the "Thunderdome" board, which would not qualify as respectful discussion. I only saw it a few times because it was low brow, offensive, and not appealing to me in the least. That's not the culture of the Cardboard, nor will it ever be.

There have been some heated debates on this board over the last few months that have delved into politics and difficult to discuss issues, some made by me. I have been impressed by how genuinely civil the discussions have been, given the sometimes passionate nature of the arguments made. The hardest thing to do when engaging with someone with whom you disagree is to not get personal when debating a topic. The denizens of this board have done a very impressive job presenting their perspectives, even when inflammatory, without making personal attacks on others. In my experience this is rare. So I can see why one might appreciate that this board has shown the ability to have sometimes emotional debates on sensitive and controversial topics, and want to be able to have more of those discussions on the Cardboard because its community has demonstrated the ability to have them, unlike all those other places on the internet that can't.

I don't like the idea of a Politics board, because that's not what this forum is about in terms of mission. But I do not have a problem with political discussion entering into approved discussion topics, because sometimes it's virtually impossible to have those discussions without politics or personal values intermixing in the discourse. That said, I think one thing that keeps the board discussion civil and not going overboard on political discussion is "the Terry Rule."  But it's kind of like the speed limit.  Sure, you aren't allowed over 55 or 65, but who doesn't drive faster than that on the freeway?  Of course, most of us don't drive 75-80+ either, just like most of us know not to go too far on political discussion on this board.

In the end, all behavior boils down to show you can be trusted to handle your business without going off the rails, hurting others, and/or causing destructive division, and you don't need to be regulated. Demonstrate you can't be trusted to behave responsibly, and face regulation.

I think Stanford fans, politics and the Cardboard meshes just about as well as whiskey, car keys and 16 year old boys.  This is the only forum (frankly the only time in my life) I've been on where I've been called a racist.  The so-called Terry rule is chiefly to silence conservatives and I've been called out multiple times for not denouncing Trump quickly enough or often enough. The fact that some of you either don't understand that or don't care tells me all I need to know about this place, vis-a-vis politics.  So as a moderate-left registered independent, I love political discussions with people from all angles, but I think I'll pass on political discussions here.